An Interlude of Bears and Insects
by GrizzlyTeddyBear
Summary: An evening with Paige Stone as she reflects on her new life with Shino
1. Chapter 1

**Authoress Pre-ramble:** I am alive! It has been longer than I would have liked, but alas, many things have been conspiring against me! Time is definitely one of them. There just doesn't seem to be enough of it to go around! There's also the fact that work is kicking my butt. And then there's the awesomeness of me getting to pal around with some Muskogee Creek Native Americans I've recently befriended. As a result, some totem information may morph a bit to conform to new information I gather. And last, but not least…my health has been uncooperative…mystery hives covering my entire body for weeks on end is NOT fun.

A hearty thank you to all readers and reviewers who have waited patiently and not so patiently! And a shameless plug for **CasaHouse **_**The Code**_. Go read and review! My next project is a collaboration with him taking place after his fic, and that means you guys have to get him to finish his current story!

**Title: An Interlude of Bears and Insects**

**By: GrizzlyTeddyBear**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and this makes me sad. It also means I make no money from this venture. Naruto belongs to Misashi Kishimoto. I do own Paige Stone, my OC! All information regarding animal totems was collected from **_**Dancing The Wheel**_** by Sun Bear and **_**Animal Speak**_** by Ted Andrews.**

**Main Pairings: ShinoxOC**

**Rating: M for mentioned adult themes**

**Warning: AU, Post-series start time. Rookie 9 is 23-24 years old. Fic mentions pagan religions, if you can't handle it, don't read! Also is OC-centric. Hold your pants, all will be revealed as the story progresses. **

An Interlude of Bears and Insects

Chapter 1

She was tossing and turning…again. This made for a solid week of sleepless nights. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Paige Stone kicked off the covers to let the cool night air get at her skin. Squinting to get a look at the clock across the room on the dresser, she let out a frustrated groan, rolled over, and buried her face in the pillow Shino normally used. The clock announced it was only 2:00AM…15 minutes later than it was when she last looked at the time.

To say she missed her husband would have been a ridiculous understatement. Paige filled her days with her new found friends, family, and even a new job, but it was the nights that couldn't be filled. She missed knowing he was next to her. She missed falling asleep in his arms. She missed his warmth and his strength that let her ease her mind and fall asleep peacefully. Aburame Shino hadn't needed any shinobi skills to capture her heart. The two of them seemed to just fit together. And it was this time apart that drove that point home further than anything else for Paige.

Paige rolled over again, clutching Shino's pillow to her chest and let her mind wander, hoping that maybe sleep would come if she stopped trying to turn off her thoughts and just let them run their course. She found herself thinking about the conversation that started her current predicament and also guaranteed that she'd have future times of this as well.

* * *

The letter was delivered by courier—probably a recent academy graduate—with the simple instruction of "For your husband, Aburame-sama". The seal on it signified it was from the office of the Hokage.

"Thank you," Paige replied. "I'll be sure he reads it right away."

The courier left after giving a polite bow and another "Aburame-sama".

Shaking her head at her own inability to get used to being addressed as "Aburame-sama," Paige walked back to the office of the home where she knew Shino was poring over paperwork for both clan and council. Her heart was racing. It had only been one month since their wedding and three weeks since the announcement of her pregnancy to the clan and their friends. The message had to be important. The situation just had that _feel_ to it.

Shino looked up from his desk as she entered the room. Tilting his head slightly he asked, "Who is it from?"

"The Hokage," she replied, handing over the scroll. Standing to read over his shoulder, Paige felt as if the floor had been pulled out from under her, and leaned to grip the desk.

Shino turned slightly to lend Paige some support.

The message read simply, "Your suspension is over. You are back in ANBU mission rotation."

"We knew the suspension was temporary." Shino ran his hand in comforting circles on Paige's back. "I'm glad she gave us this much time without missions." He encircled her waist with his arms and she spun to shift her weight to her own two feet again.

"I don't like it," she frowned. Trying to hide her frustration by looking up at the ceiling, she continued. "I understand it. I won't ask you to leave it... But don't ask me to like it." Looking down at her husband Paige tried to put on a brave face. "You're shinobi, but I don't like the idea of you being far away from me…of you in danger, of you being hurt…" her voice trailed off, revealing her emotions.

Shino stood and wrapped her in a fierce embrace. "I do not like those ideas either. But I am shinobi…trained to protect village and clan. I will do whatever it takes to come back to you from every mission."

With that declaration from him, Paige lost her battle and began crying. She knew that was not a promise that Shino could make. He would try, she was sure of that. But no shinobi can promise to come back from every mission alive. That was part of the job…being ready to die for village…and clan.

* * *

Sitting up in bed, Paige violently wiped away the tears that particular memory stirred up. Unfortunately she had been a bit too violent and disturbed the carefully hung shelf that was above the bed's headboard. Paige was now buried under a small avalanche of teddy bears. Chuckling at her predicament, she picked one teddy off the top of her head and looked at it.

Shino really was a big softy. Each and every bear was from him. It had started with the one he gave her in the hospital. Paige sifted through the pile of plushies looking for that particular one and flopped backwards, cuddling it after she had found it. He was her favorite one. The second one had been innocently sitting upon her bed when she was released from the hospital early. More sifting through the pile and that one joined the other in her arms. She mused that Shino really was enabling her "addiction" to the cuddly bears. Never knowing when one would show up in their bedroom, Paige had an additional reason to enjoy going to bed with Shino.

She blushed at her first reason for excitement at going to bed with her husband. The sex was amazing! Passionate. Fiery. Gentle. Loving. Never boring. How could it be boring with an Aburame? Shino was stoic outside, but with her, he was open. And Paige reveled in all of his emotions that were revealed to her and his family, no one else.

Paige looked at her armful of teddies. "Well, now that I've made myself lonely _and_ sexually frustrated…"

Glass and plastic eyes blankly looked back at her.

Groaning at herself for talking to plushies…again…her thoughts wandered next to the one bear that _did_ talk back. Matohota's twisted sense of humor always kept her guessing. Paige was thinking of one lesson she got that almost ended up in political disaster.

* * *

"Hunting?" she asked.

"Hunting," was the reply. Matohota's expression hinting at the amusement he was getting out of Paige.

"And how are we going to accomplish this, Tiblo? Throwing kunai at squirrels?" she retorted to the smirking grizzly. She never knew one could pull off that facial expression until she started meeting regularly with her totem.

A snort was her initial reply. "I'm going to show you how to build your own bow and make your own arrows."

"Uh huh," Paige raised an eyebrow, "and then we shoot squirrels?"

"Hardly," the bear shook his head and then grinned. "There's a herd of deer close by, I'll take you on your first hunt."

Unfortunately for Paige, what Matohota had hoped would be a quick lesson, took 2 weeks. Work was done in the afternoons since Paige had started her shifts at the Konoha Hospital with being appointed the clinical manager of their psychiatric ward. One afternoon was dedicated to carving the bow. It took another afternoon of struggling just to string it. She left that lesson with a few bloodied fingers and a black eye from sudden lack of tension when the string escaped her grasp. The rest of the first week was taken up with the making of arrows. There was a lot of cursing, but damn if Paige didn't take pride in a job finally completed.

Next was target practice. That week started out easy enough, and similarly to how Shino trained her to throw kunai. Paige attempted to hit a stationary target from an ever increasing distance and then at different angles. The real challenge came when Matohota wanted her to try and shoot the target while it was moving. "Did you think your prey would just wait around for you to kill it?" snarked her totem after she failed to hit her target again.

"Survival of the fittest. I'll pick off the ones dumb enough to wait around," was the sarcastic reply she gave with a shrug and a smirk. Paige knew she should really start learning how to predict her targets movement and shoot where her target _will_ be instead of where it _was_, but she was also getting frustrated.

This whole "lesson" started when she bugged Matohota to teach her more of the old ways. But the day that stood out the most about that particular lesson was the day of the actual hunt. Paige should have asked more questions, but hindsight was always clearer vision.

It was one of those perfect days, not too hot, not too cold, and not too many clouds in the sky. Matohota lead her to where the deer were foraging in the forest, carefully explaining to her the importance of keeping downwind of prey. He led her to a small bottleneck in the undergrowth. "Stay here. I will drive the deer to you while you take aim from under cover."

Paige nodded her assent and moved to take cover behind some undergrowth. She watched through the leaves as Matohota walked towards the herd and strained her hearing for signs of an approaching stampede. Granted this was not going to be the most graceful of hunts, but it looked like her totem was going for something she couldn't screw up too badly for her first hunt.

A roar sounded not too far off.

That was her signal to be at the ready.

The sound of angry men shouting.

Releasing the tension she had built up in her bow, Paige was officially confused. Closing her eyes she _listened_ and could hear the oncoming deer. Paying attention to her gifts she then felt _Deer_ approaching her and groaned. Paige Stone of the Aburame was apparently on Nara clan holdings. Putting away her weapons to hopefully smooth over any ruffled feathers…or fur, she tried to convey a very large _**BAD IDEA**_ feeling towards Matohota to get him to stop the chase.

"Why should we stop when we have a chance to count coup against a rival tribe?" her totem suddenly asked from beside her.

After letting out a rather undignified squeak at being surprised, Paige explained. "They are not rivals. The Nara are part of Konoha and our allies." She stood up and waved with a smile on her face at the oncoming angry shinobi. "And I really hope we just didn't start a war between the Aburame and Nara," she muttered under hear breath while still smiling. Spotting Shikamaru she began walking towards them. "As someone who is representing the clan as co-leader, and especially in Shino's absence, I'm hoping we can fix this."

"As representative of the Aburame…does it count that I have 3 kunai stuck in me as compensation?" was the snidely asked question from her totem.

Stopping to pull out the mentioned kunai and inspect the damage, revealing it to be relatively minor, Paige replied, "It's a negotiation point."

Shikamaru and his father stood opposite Paige, flanked by unhappy Nara. Technically the head of the clan was Shikamaru, but he was too lazy to be bothered with clan politics. His father still ran things.

Bowing a little lower than protocol demanded and holding out the kunai, Paige addressed both Shikaku and Shikamaru, "I apologize for our unannounced entrance. I did not know we had passed into Nara clan holdings." She righted herself when she felt the kunai taken from her.

"How troublesome," announced Shikamaru. "I didn't want to have to do anything today and then you two showed up and made trouble." Somehow managing to look rather bored, he asked, "Just what were you doing scaring all of our deer."

Deciding one couldn't really outwit a Nara, Paige replied, "I was being taken on a hunt." Paige gestured at the grizzly next to her that looked a little put out by politics, "Matohota said he would teach me more of the old ways. Although I would have suggested somewhere else if I had known this was your land and your deer."

"There are no other deer in Konoha besides the Nara. We have ensured they have little competition. It was a troublesome thing for our ancestors," Shikamaru sighed.

"Hunting deer in Konoha is poaching from the Nara," announced Shikaku.

The grizzly shifted next to Paige. "I acknowledge the Nara's ability to thwart my attempt at counting coup on their herd and in turn their warriors' abilities to count coup on myself. I do not seek compensation. I am not Aburame and my actions should not be held against them or Taksi."

"He means me," explained Paige to the raised eyebrows she received. "It means little sister."

"You have a talking bear as your brother?" questioned Shikamaru. "How troublesome."

"We wish to negotiate a treaty for hunting privileges," announced the mentioned talking bear.

It was Paige's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Who is apparently good with negotiations…"

Within the next hour the strangest agreement between clans to go into the Konoha legal archives was composed. The Nara would call upon the Aburame, in the person of Paige Stone when they needed to harvest antlers to make medicine. The Aburame agreed to use tranquilizers during the harvesting period. This allowed Paige some target practice. However, at select times of the year, the Aburame were to be called upon to thin the herd and maintain the optimum balance between the genders to encourage breeding. The two clans parted ways, each with what they wanted. Matohota and Paige got their hunting privileges, and Shikamaru had even less work to do when it came to tending his clan's deer.

One successful hunt later, Paige looked down at the deer that was transported back to her little clearing on Aburame land and wondered what next. And to her growing nausea, Matohota explained _in detail_ exactly how to go about skinning and sectioning a deer. Setting about her new task, she was extremely thankful it was late afternoon and well past when her morning sickness lasted.

However after the skinning and sectioning, her totem described her next assignment for the next day.

"You want me to do _WHAT_ with the brains!?"

* * *

**Authoress Post-ramble: **Comments, questions, criticisms? Leave a review or send me an email at and just leave something in the subject line about the story so I know it's not junkmail!


	2. Chapter 2

**Authoress Pre-ramble:** I have returned! And as reward for your waiting here is the 2nd chapter. To answer the question of where's the plot? The Answer is written in the title. As an interlude, it is going to be a bridge between two stories…so admittedly not much plot, but lots of character development. This interlude is where I try to mash two different universes together to make them work…and that's all I'm saying on that for now.

A big "Thank you!" to all of my readers and reviewers! And an even bigger "Thank you!" to CasaHouse for the quickie betaing of the chapter.

**Title: An Interlude of Bears and Insects**

**By: GrizzlyTeddyBear**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and this makes me sad. It also means I make no money from this venture. Naruto belongs to Misashi Kishimoto. I do own Paige Stone, my OC! All information regarding animal totems was collected from **_**Dancing The Wheel**_** by Sun Bear and **_**Animal Speak**_** by Ted Andrews.**

**Main Pairings: ShinoxOC**

**Rating: M for mentioned adult themes**

**Warning: AU, Post-series start time. Rookie 9 is 23-24 years old. Fic mentions pagan religions, if you can't handle it, don't read! Also is OC-centric. Hold your pants, all will be revealed as the story progresses. **

***Chapter 2***

Chuckling to herself, Paige came back from her trip down memory lane. She had gotten two nicely sized shoulder bags and a few smaller pouches out of that deer, not to mention a bit of venison to share around the clan.

Paige sighed as she looked back and forth between her new bags hanging on the closet door handle and the clock the stubbornly refused to show the advancement in time. For a moment, she contemplated going out to her clearing to meditate and maybe achieve sleep that way. It had worked in the past. It had also freaked out the rest of the clan slightly when they didn't know where she had gone.

One minute she had been enjoying the ability to clear her mind from the thoughts of Shino being away on mission and snuggled up to Matohota for warmth in the chill night air, and the next thing she was aware of was being bodily carried back to her home.

***

Awake was not something she wanted to be, but something had changed. She was moving…someone was carrying her…and they were making her arm fall asleep. _Beetle._ At least it was a clan member carrying her. Paige shifted the limb which was tingling with lack of circulation and gave a sigh after finding a better spot for it.

"You shouldn't be out alone at night in your condition," reprimanded the person carrying her.

Recognition. "…'m pregnant…," she yawned, "…not dying…Tousan." The feeling of sleep was receding, and that made for a cranky Paige Stone. "You act like I'm not capable of defending myself," she glared.

"No," was the reply to her accusation. "But you do have a habit of putting yourself into situations from which you need rescuing."

She pouted in response as her home came into view. "I was trying to sleep. It's something I haven't really been able to do since Shino left."

Shibi deposited her on her own two feet before opening the door for her.

Paige flopped down on the couch in the living room. "I think I actually got an hour of sleep too…" She watched as Shibi made his way to the kitchen and then heard him rummaging around in her cabinets for something.

"Tea will be done in a few minutes," he announced when he returned and sat opposite her in one of the chairs in the room.

The two looked at each other for a few moments before she broke away first. "I know he's safe," she mumbled. Truth be told she had been asking Kagi Taka to keep an unobtrusive eye on anything suggesting he was on his way to the next world. "But I still miss him." She looked into her lap and started playing with the ends of Shino's jacket that she had put on to go outside. "I'm not quite sure when I went from self-sufficient to needing someone to be near me so much that it hurts when they're gone."

A cup of tea materialized in front of her face. "You are not alone."

Blinking a few times and then realizing she should take hold of the cup of hot tea being offered, Paige offered a sheepish smile. "I know, but no one else is Shino." After taking a small sip of the still hot liquid she said, "I needed something to take my mind off of things for a little while…" She trailed off into silence, her mind still on how much she missed Shino.

"Have you discussed names?" her adoptive father suddenly asked.

Giving a small start from having her train of thought derailed, she took a moment to process what had just been asked. "Baby names?" Biting her lip, she considered her answer, "Not yet, but I have noticed everyone born into the plan starts their names with 'Shi'. And the name Shizu was one I wanted to bring up to Shino as a possibility."

"He will like it," Shibi responded almost immediately.

"You seem sure about that," Paige raised an eyebrow.

He nodded once. "It was his grandmother's name."

Paige smiled. "Knew I liked it for a reason. But with my luck, a child named 'quiet' will end up being a holy terror." She could almost guess the next line of questioning. Shibi still had a duty to look out for his clan.

"And the kikaichu?"

She gave a deflating sigh, "That was a tougher decision. I know it's risky at any age, but done at younger ages it's less risky. And in order for her to be in the line of succession she has to receive them, and both parents have to be agreeable to it. But you know my penchant for personal decisions."

"And?"

"And I ended up dragging Shino out to our clearing and 'walking the wheel' about it," the totem reader smiled. "We drew up the agreement before he left on his mission. It's on the desk in the office to be reviewed by the elders when he returns."

Shibi got up and headed towards the home office.

Paige guessed he went to review the document himself. When he returned to the room she noticed she was starting to feel drowsy. "What did you put...," she yawned, "in the tea?"

"Valerian. Although you can't take it too regularly because of…"

"…my pregnancy," she interrupted. "Figures," she stifled another yawn. "You might want to show yourself out. I'm going to enjoy a few hours of sleep." She walked back to the bedroom and promptly passed out.

***

That was the one night she had gotten _some_ sleep. Paige had tried to talk Shibi into allowing her to use the Valerian more often, but he refused, replying the health of his future granddaughter was too important to risk.

She rested her hands on her stomach. There was no outward sign of her pregnancy, but she knew that was only for so long. Shino and the clan had agreed to her idea of hiding the pregnancy from those who didn't need to know about it. Oh sure, Tsunade knew of it. She was the Hokage after all. But the rest of the council, Paige had a healthy distrust of them after what they tried to pull on her to just be allowed to stay in the village. If they knew she and Shino actually accomplished conceiving the child they wanted to use for political power… Shaking her head to derail her current train of thoughts she attempted to calm herself. There was still no guarantee Shizu would inherit her abilities. Paige Stone would cross that bridge when she came to it…if she came to it. And she was secure in the knowledge that Shino, the clan, and her friends would stand beside her in the defense of her child.

Her sleepless musings turned to her immediate problem: how she was getting the Konoha Psychiatric ward to run a bit more smoothly. She hadn't made too many friends on her first day…although she did win over the important people.

***

Following Sakura's form through the myriad of hallways that was the Konoha Hospital, Paige attempted to memorize the route. In theory she should be able to find her own way to and from her work area.

"It's not too much farther," Sakura smiled over her shoulder. "We have the ward in a different section of the Hospital to cut down on the disruption when the ward is especially…busy."

"Uh huh," remarked Page. "Who was running this place before me?"

"Technically it was jointly run by Ibiki and me, but Nurse Dai runs the day to day functions of the place." The head of Konoha surgery lead them around another corner.

She thought it made a little sense. Ibiki had to know of the human psyche in order to best get information out of it. The further she was lead down the hall, the more she could hear shouting, but couldn't quite make out what was being said.

The pink-haired medic sighed. "That would be Dai. She has a love for the work. Unfortunately we're hard pressed to find others who are equally dedicated."

_Bear._ Paige gave a small smile. _A fellow bear…this could be interesting_, she thought.

The yelling finally could be understood. "I don't know how you got hired at this hospital, but I'll make sure you'll never work under this roof again! Get out of my sight!"

An orderly brushed past Sakura and Paige as they approached.

Smiling as she approached Nurse Dai, she gave her a visual assessment. She was older than Paige and definitely carried an air of authority about her despite being a little shorter than the Aburame heiress. "Dai-san," she smiled with a polite bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you. From what I hear you've been running things."

Returning the bow, Dai straightened and attempted to fix her slightly mussed hair. "I apologize if you overheard any of that Aburame-sama. Some people wouldn't know compassion if it bit them in the ass."

"Please just call me Paige," she dismissed the formality. "And it's good that I overheard you actually." Turning to Sakura she asked, "Just how much latitude are you prepared to give me here?"

"You are more of the expert here," the med-nin shrugged. "It's sad to say this place has been run as more of a place of containment than treatment."

"Then ensure whoever Nurse Dai was talking to does not work under this roof again. If they can't be compassionate to the most vulnerable of patients, then they need to think of a new career path. I'll also need personnel files on those currently working the ward and any applicants." She turned back to a smiling Dai, "I'll need your help sorting through this mess. I want a functioning place of rehabilitation and we're going to have to restructure from top to bottom to do it."

"I'm going to like this one," Dai said to Sakura. "I'll take over the tour from here."

"I'll have those files ready for you by tomorrow," announced Sakura before she left Paige to Dai.

The nurse led Paige through a brief tour of the ward. It was roughly split into two sections: shinobi and non-shinobi. Shinobi were required to surrender all weapons and have a sealing jutsu performed to restrict their chakra. "For safety reasons," Dai clarified the reasoning behind the segregation and the stripping of shinobi abilities.

Paige nodded in understanding.

"Medic-nins oversee the functioning of the shinobi unit and civilian nurses oversee the civilians," the nurse continued.

The totem reader's eyes took in everything they could on the tour. Some of the employees enjoyed their work and tried their best to help. But others were not so dedicated. Paige made the effort to learn faces and names for the upcoming review of staff files as Dai introduced her to the current shift.

After being led out of the ward, Nurse Dai showed Paige to her office. After taking a seat, she asked, "How bad is it?"

Letting out a big puff of air, she leaned back in her chair. "It's not as bad as I feared, but we definitely have our work cut out for us. I could see a third of the staff will need to be replaced on this shift alone and almost everyone needs retraining. Almost all of them are complacent. That means someone is going to get hurt in the near future." Paige turned to look out the window.

"The ward has unfortunately been used as punishment for staff. If they don't perform well in other areas of the hospital, they end up here. I do what I can with them, and some of them do find they enjoy it, but others…" Dai trailed off.

"Remind me to talk to Sakura about that as well. That's nothing but a disservice to the patients." She turned back once more to a smiling Dai.

"This place won't know what hit it, Paige-san," stated the nurse with a bit of a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "I've been waiting years for this. Sakura and Ibiki just didn't have the time to give the ward the shaking down its needed."

An answering smile tugged at the corners of her own mouth. "I think I'll like working with you as well Dai. Just promise me you'll keep that brutal honesty of yours around me as well. I have a feeling I'll be needing your insights."

The next days were filled with hirings and firings as Paige and Dai shifted through the mountains of files that mysteriously appeared in her office the next day. For as many files she read through and made a decision on, it seemed like there were even more she was creating on how to train the new and existing personnel. Paperwork…was evil incarnate.

***

A loud authoritative knock jarred Paige back to the reality of her sleepless night. Another look at the clock as she got up and pulled on a yukata over her pajamas to help keep out the night air.

The knock sounded again, but louder this time.

_Lizard. Dog. _Paige couldn't distinguish exactly how was on the other side of the door. "Coming!" she yelled at the door as she rushed through the living room. When she arrived, she opened the door to be faced with two ANBU operatives—their emotions as impassive as their masks. For a moment, she felt her heart constrict in fear. Had something happened to Shino?

"Paige Stone Aburame, your presence is requested by Morino Ibiki to assist in an investigation."

***

**Authoress Post-ramble:** I'm so evil! I like making my readers suffer with cliff-hangers! Please leave a comment, question, or criticism in a review or email me! Until next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Authoress Pre-ramble:** And here is the big reveal! This interlude is where I'm smashing the two worlds of Paige Stone and CasaHouse's Drake into one. Now this will mean that not everything adds up from _**Reading Totems**_. I know. Please don't think I don't know. I hated the idea of going back and rewriting a fic that works perfectly well on its own. So I left it alone. And our collaboration also will work perfectly well on its own. This interlude is to familiarize everyone with the new world created in the collaboration as well as taking a peak into the lives of Paige and Shino and the possible future interactions with Drake.

A big "Thank you!" to all of my readers and reviewers! And an even bigger "Thank you!" to CasaHouse for the quickie betaing of the chapter and the borrowing of Drake.

**Title: An Interlude of Bears and Insects**

**By: GrizzlyTeddyBear**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and this makes me sad. It also means I make no money from this venture. Naruto belongs to Misashi Kishimoto. I do own Paige Stone, my OC! All information regarding animal totems was collected from **_**Dancing The Wheel**_** by Sun Bear and **_**Animal Speak**_** by Ted Andrews.**

**Main Pairings: ShinoxOC**

**Rating: M for mentioned adult themes**

**Warning: AU, Post-series start time. Rookie 9 is 23-24 years old. Fic mentions pagan religions, if you can't handle it, don't read! Also is OC-centric. Hold your pants, all will be revealed as the story progresses. **

***Chapter 3***

After the small amount of dust kicked up had disbursed and Paige was sure the floor beneath her feet wasn't going to suddenly shift again from another teleportation jutsu, Paige stood in what she presumed to be ANBU headquarters flanked by her two masked escorts. She had had just enough time to change into something more suitable than pajamas to meet with Ibiki when they each grabbed an arm and she was told she was going. Unhappy, was not the word for the mood the man-handling had put her in. Obviously they either didn't know her, or didn't care who she was. Well, it was time to fix that. Making a show of rearranging her clothing, "Gentlemen! As much as I love to be gotten out of bed at o'dark thirty and being immediately ordered around, I remind you that this is a contract I entered into voluntarily with Ibiki and am underno obligation to maintain this. Should another incident of such—impolite—nature occur, I will not hesitated to terminate this agreement." As an afterthought she added, "Oh, and I'm sure you've heard of my stunt I pulled in the council meeting several months ago. I'll be sure to give your names to Ibiki for reprimand." Even though she didn't know who exactly they were, she didn't have to let them know...

_Nervous_

Paige allowed herself a small smile of satisfaction at the small amount of fear she put into the two ANBU. Checking to see if her assumption that she was standing outside of Ibiki's office was correct, she felt his totem of _Owl_, made sure he was the only one present in the room, and walked into the office. "Ibiki-san." She waited for a response and tried to project the image that she felt a lot more comfortable in the man's presence than she really was.

"Paige," was the interrogators acknowledgement of her presence. He hadn't looked up from the file he was looking at on his desk. After a few more seconds of awkward silence, Ibiki closed the file and slid it across the desk towards the totem reader. "This is the case we need assistance on."

Taking the file and giving the information inside a quick once-over, she asked, "Why this one?" It looked rather straight forward at first glance.

A slightly more than creepy smile lit up Ibiki's face, "I'm head of ANBU's torture and interrogation squad, but that only helps after we capture someone that has information. We have a suspect, but I was unable to attain a confession."

Paige grimaced slightly at the look of anticipation on the interrogator's face. "Creepy..." Looking over the information again, her morning sickness tried to assert itself as she took in the gruesome details of the murder. Swallowing back her nausea, she looked back at Ibiki, "How would you like to start."

"The suspects mind was blanked by a technique we cannot dispel. We need to connect him to the crimes with more than circumstantial evidence." He motioned her to follow him out the door.

Keeping pace with the ANBU shinobi, Paige tried to memorize her way through the wandering passages, doorways, and stairwells. One thing was for certain…they definitely kept going _down._ The press of her ravens in the back of her mind also was becoming greater. Once she had to steady herself against the wall at the images she was shown.

Ibiki waited until she had regained her composure and then resumed walking. He did not ask her if she was alright. He did not ask if she needed assistance. He simply waited.

She volunteered information anyway. "That room we just passed holds a serial murderer." She shuddered. "He likes to keep a lock of hair from his victims...red heads." Paige swallowed against more bile rising in her throat.

A small nod of his head was the only acknowledgement given that she had been accurate. Moments later, Ibiki stopped in front of a set of double doors and motioned Paige to enter one while he opened the other.

Stepping into the small room, she noticed the one-way mirror on one side and an ANBU standing in one of the corners of the room.

_Lizard. Duty._

Paige let a small smile show and nodded her head at the friendly presence of Neji in ANBU attire.

He motioned to the single chair in the room.

Taking the offered seat, she faced the glass which let her peer into the next room and watched Ibiki work; a small speaker offered her the opportunity to listen in as well. Paige tried to be as objective as possible while she watched.

"Do you want to change your story?" Ibiki questioned.

The man, who looked like he'd been through a few rounds of beatings, frantically shook his head 'no'. _Fear. Dread._

"His fear is genuine," Paige confirmed. She closed her eyes to concentrate on things more. "It's not…" She searched for the right words, "It's not forced or faked. He truly doesn't know." Trying to arrange herself in the most comfortable position she could, she sank further into her connection with her ravens to ask for any information on the case.

The images were intense. Bodies were contorted at unnatural angles. Broken bones…cutting just to watch blood flow. Paige tried to hang on to her own sanity and her stomach. Trying to separate her own reactions from the images she requested and those of the victims' from their messages, she narrated the events in a monotone voice. "He enjoyed the work. That's how he viewed it too…work. It was his job to test the limits of the human body to see how to perfect the technique. He doesn't know what technique though. That was someone else." She paused for a moment before her eyes flew open and her hands covered her mouth. "I'm going to be sick…" she stated.

A small trash bin materialized in front of her.

Paige proceeded to lose her dinner from last night into the bin. She attempted to spit out the lingering flavor of bile when she was finished…but was unsuccessful. Continuing the reading, she announced in a hoarse voice, "His name was Nobu. I can't find information on the technique used to blank his mind…the dead don't know that answer. But find Nobu, and you find the technique." She looked up at the suspect, now identified as the perpetrator. "That one is actually weak-minded. Probably why Ibiki was frustrated on not being able to get the information himself," she added absent-mindedly.

A derisive snort was the response that came from the direction of the doorway. "It's more than we had before. And it gives us the victim's perspective," Ibiki stated. The look in his eyes was almost one of approval. He gazed turned to the trash bin in front of Paige.

"I'll get used to it. Next time, no puking." She gave a sheepish grin. Her stomach made another drastic contortion. "Or maybe not. I need to go now. I'll send any more information I get."

A hand on her arm guided her to stand.

The next thing Paige knew, she was back in her house and Neji had disappeared in another teleportation before the dust from the first jutsu had cleared. Unfortunately for her, a glance at the clock told her time had actually marched on, unlike the rest of her sleepless night. It was now time for her to make her appearance at the Konoha Hospital's Psychiatric Wards. She grumbled as she walked towards the bathroom to brush her teeth before leaving.

***

She was still grumbling when she walked out of the hospital. According to all her experience and education, there was no truly scientific reason that if you have one person screaming on the ward, everyone starts screaming and acting out. The only plus was that with all of that agitation, she got to see if her staff were capable of the _non-injurious_ intervention methods she was trying to impress upon them. There had been a few firings over Dai discovering some medic-nins not understanding that broken bones were not conducive to mental health. Paige had raised a few eyebrows when she chose to make her point about her techniques being effective by demonstrating a few holds on the largest male shinobi she could find…and successfully kept him immobilized.

Dai, however, just started laughing.

A small smile tried to eclipse the overall glowering expression she was wearing as she remembered Dai's comments on how she had emasculated every male ninja that worked for her.

Ramen.

Paige spied Ichiraku's ahead and altered her course home to include a stop for ramen. Cooking for one was just not practical…and it only served to remind her that Shino wasn't home to eat her cooking. The smell actually made her stomach grumble in appreciation for once. There was some unidentifiable totem—very strong—that caused her to hesitate slightly before pulling back one of the flaps…and laying her eyes on one of the largest people she'd ever seen.

Giving her order of something she was pretty sure would keep her stomach happy after taking a seat two stools down from the man, Paige took the opportunity to study him…using all of her methods of observation.

He was just plain huge. There was no other way to describe him. He wore all black, including a black bandana. A glinting of metal drew her attention to the hite-ate. The slightly stiff manner he held himself spoke of the weapons he most likely had scattered about his vest and large coat. Or maybe it was the kunai protruding from his shoulder that was restricting his movements.

Concentrating slightly, she was puzzled that he didn't feel like he was being hampered by the injury at all.

_Fire Lizard?_

She held on to the edge of the counter as the force of his totem again pushed at her abilities. Little sleep and little food didn't do much for her equilibrium…on any front. Add in pregnancy to empathic mood swings…and well, sometimes she wondered why people weren't running away screaming from her more often.

Paige smiled gratefully when her order was delivered and gave a happy sigh after her first bite.

She contemplated the totem…fire lizard…her best guess was a dragon. She'd look into it later.

Eyes slid towards her direction briefly before returning to ramen. The newly identified dragon totem holder appeared to be working on adding to a sizeable stack of dirty bowls.

The attention caused Paige to shift her own gaze back to the large man with the kunai. This guy needed his priorities straightened. Feeling slightly snarky, she decided to break the ice in her typical fashion. "You should get your shoulder looked at," she blurted out, gesturing towards the kunai. "It can't be comfortable."

His full gaze was turned on her. "I'm eating." He turned back to his bowl of ramen and proceeded to demonstrate. The voice that accompanied that man was just as large as he was, but didn't hold any anger, mainly indifference.

"You're also bleeding," Paige challenged.

Chopsticks were halted momentarily as he turned his head to give his injury only slight consideration. "I've had worse."

"Uh huh," was her only reply. She could believe it…but sitting down to dinner with a kunai jutting out of your shoulder? Who did this guy think he was?

"Really." He scratched the top of his head in an absent-minded gesture of thinking. "I've kinda lost count of all of my injuries."

The gesture and feeling of nonchalance started to convince Paige that maybe he had lost track of his injuries, but still! "You should go to the hospital."

An eyebrow arched over a green eye. "Why are you so concerned?" Another empty bowl was added to the stack.

Their conversation was interrupted when Ayame delivered another bowl of ramen to the tall man. "Paige is always concerned about everyone," she stated to him. She switched her attention to the mentioned woman as she refilled her drink. "Have you heard anything?" Her eyes held concern mirrored by her voice.

Sighing, she replied. "Nothing yet, but no news is good news when you consider everything."

Ayame withdrew, leaving a slightly awkward silence behind her.

Paige stirred her ramen absently then glanced over at the large man again to find him looking at her with some sympathy.

"Boyfriend a nin?" He was turned to face her now.

"Husband. And yes. He's been on mission for a while," she rubbed at her forehead tiredly. "And I've gotten to run things at the clan by myself while he's gone," she mumbled.

"Who?" his brow was furrowed like he was trying to think of who would match the information he was given.

"Aburame Shino."

The ramen paused in its journey to its fate of being eaten. "You're an Aburame?" he gaped.

She gave an awkward mock-bow while still sitting on her stool. "Co-head of clan, at your service."

He gave her a critical eye. "You don't have any kikaichu."

Paige gave a mysterious smile. "Nope!"

"Then how do you…" he trailed off in bewilderment.

Taking the small opening offered by his confusion, she launched herself off of her stool, grabbed an end of his long coat and tugged the large man to his feet. "And if I tell you any more I'd hafta kill ya! But for now, I'll settle for getting that shoulder checked out." She shouted over her shoulder, "Put it on the Aburame account, Teuchi-san!"

The ninja she was currently dragging gave a small start, but allowed himself to still be hauled off when he turned and shouted, "I'll pay when I bring the bowl back!"

The short journey back to the Konoha Hospital was probably amusing to the observer. Paige Stone, all of 5 feet tall was dragging a man easily over 6 feet tall by his coat through the streets while he ate ramen and had a kunai sticking out of his shoulder. Once inside the hospital, people were less covert and were blatantly staring at the scene.

Paige dragged the now highly amused nin behind her while ignoring the stares and made her way to the triage counter. "Hi Nami, I need a room for…" She turned around expecting the answer to come from him.

"Drake!" answered Nami from behind the counter.

The totem reader's head whipped back around. "You know him?" A small part of her mind confirmed her suspicions on his totem being a dragon based on his name.

"Hi Nami," replied the apparently well known Drake with a wave and a smile. "How are the kids?"

Nami replied to Paige dismissively. "Everyone in this place knows Drake. I think your department is the only one he hasn't been admitted to." She turned to Drake, "What is it this time? And the kids are fine," she replied with an answering smile.

Drake pointed to his shoulder, "Kunai. One of my students was a bit more determined than the rest."

Chewing her lip slightly while checking some books, Nami nodded her head. "Pretty minor this time. I still remember that arm reattachment a few years back." She shuddered slightly.

One mortified Aburame was left to try and comprehend that bit of information. Wait…he was a sensei at the academy??? Her thoughts were interrupted by Nami.

"Looks like Room 116 is open." She looked up. "Paige since you're here, it'll go quicker if you escort him to the room while I go see who's on duty for patch-jobs."

Taking up the corner of Drake's coat again, Paige dragged him off towards Room 116.

For his part, Drake obediently let himself be hauled off while clutching his bowl of ramen.

Once inside the room, Paige perched herself on the stool reserved for medical staff.

Drake sat on the exam table. "Why are you still here?"

Paige shrugged, "Figured the magical pull of Ichiraku's might try to convince you to leave before you get your shoulder taken care of. I'm here to fight its hold on you."

The large man snorted.

After a small amount of silence, she just had to ask. "Did you really get your arm reattached?"

"You work here. Read my file if you don't believe it," was the reply.

At that moment a medic walked into the room carrying the thickest file Paige had ever seen. And to top it off, in bold black marker was the phrase "Vol. 5 of 5." She grabbed it when the medic placed it on the counter.

A low grunt drew her attention from the file towards Drake. He had taken off his shirt to give the medic better access to the wound. Paige tried not to stare at all of the scars covering his upper body. Ok, so maybe he did have some experience at being at the hospital. Her eyes wandered up and met the green-eyed gaze of the large man on the exam table. Realizing she had been caught staring anyway, she blushed slightly and started reading the synopsis while Drake was being healed.

There were so many injuries listed! And towards the bottom…one of the first…arm reattachment. She didn't think her eyebrows could go any higher. Paige cleared her throat, "I have one question for you."

Drake raised one eyebrow in invitation.

"If you're such a good jounin, why don't you dodge better?"

The medic giggled.

Drake scowled. "I've found dodging to be counter-productive when placed between something sharp and someone you're protecting."

Paige turned back to the file. Moved to Konoha a few years ago. He was married…to TenTen. "TenTen normally is the one dragging you in here, isn't she."

He had the sense to look a little sheepish and gave a nervous chuckle. "She's on mission too."

She gave a smirk and a small nod to herself. Made sense that the weapon mistress could handle him. Paige sighed. His wife. Reading about his marital status made her think about her own. Shino. Closing the file and replacing it on the counter, she gave what she hoped was a convincing smile. "I guess it's my time to exit seeing as how I actually got you to take care of that shoulder." Hopping off the stool, she made her way to the door.

"Paige-san?" his voice called.

Pausing with her hand on the door handle, she turned around. "Yes, Drake-san?"

"You never answered my question," he crossed his arms in expectation, his shoulder now fully healed.

"Ah, well, you never finished asking it," was her comeback.

"I'll be right back to have someone sign off on your release, Drake." The medic tried to squeeze by Paige to leave the room.

The totem reader took advantage of the moment, slipping mostly outside the room. Pausing just before she closed the door, she poked her head back in. "The only thing I'll volunteer is that even though I'm civilian, I'm perfectly capable of handling myself against most threats," giggling to herself at his confusion, Paige shut the door to the room and used her knowledge of back routes and corridors to evade being followed by Drake. Engaging in conversations about herself without knowledge of his security clearance was a big no-no that Tsunade, Ibiki, and the entire Aburame clan had drilled in to her. Sighing, she felt her previous mood return as she once again headed towards Ichiraku before heading home…she wanted to make sure Teuchi-san charged the Aburame account.

***

**Authoress's Post-ramble:** Tah dah! Anyone curious about Drake should mosey over to CasaHouse's page and read his fic _**The Code**_. I promise it's a good read. Besides, the more people pester him to finish it, the sooner we can get our collaboration under way! Until next time, Happy Freakin' Holiday of your choice!


	4. Chapter 4

**Authoress Pre-ramble:** Alright! Shino's arrival! And that means one thing kiddies! This will have lemony goodness in it! If you are underage, or just not into that kind of literature…turn your eyes away. For those of you of age and interested, I offer you lemons! *dances with glee*

A huge thank you to all of my fans and minions that have taken the time to read and review. Your feedback keeps me improving and giving me new ideas.

A large thank you to CasaHouse for being my beta and general sounding board for my pre-publication ideas. *Looks down at unconscious form of CasaHouse with massive nosebleed* Umm…I think I broke it. Anyone know CPR?

**Title: An Interlude of Bears and Insects**

**By: GrizzlyTeddyBear**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and this makes me sad. It also means I make no money from this venture. Naruto belongs to Misashi Kishimoto. I do own Paige Stone, my OC! All information regarding animal totems was collected from **_**Dancing The Wheel**_** by Sun Bear and **_**Animal Speak**_** by Ted Andrews.**

**Main Pairings: ShinoxOC**

**Rating: M for mentioned adult themes**

**Warning: AU, Post-series start time. Rookie 9 is 23-24 years old. Fic mentions pagan religions, if you can't handle it, don't read! Also is OC-centric. Hold your pants, all will be revealed as the story progresses. **

***Chapter 4***

Warmth. The feeling of safety and security…followed by sunlight hitting her in the eye.

After her exhausting day that started with a night of no sleep, working with Ibiki, working the ward, and then hauling a reluctant Drake to get medical attention, Paige went home and promptly fell asleep on the couch. However, she found herself waking up in her own bed. And she was waking up to that warm feeling of security that only comes from being held by someone you love.

Smiling to herself, she rolled over and tried to burrow herself further into Shino. "Missed you," she said, her voice muffled by the fact that her face was plastered against her husband's chest.

The kikaichu could be heard humming within his body.

A kiss landed on the top of her head. "Missed you too."

"You shoulda woken me up when you got in," she stated, finally looking up into Shino's black eyes.

His arms tightened around her slightly. "You looked like you needed the sleep."

Paige snorted, "That's an understatement." She looked puzzled for a moment, "Although usually no matter how tired I am, I wake up when people try and move me."

A smirk was her answer. "Ninja."

"Ninja, my ass…" she bantered.

Shino's reply was to run one of his hands slowly down her spine to rest on mentioned ass and give a brief squeeze. "Raincheck. I want to _ninja_ something else."

Paige felt she was losing her composure as his unoccupied hand ran up her back, gently held the back her head and brought her forward into a kiss. Moaning in response, she tried to shift even closer to gain more contact with the man she loved. Hands continued to wander her back. When they lightly traced her tattoos, she was forced to break the kiss and arch her back.

His mouth ventured to the target her neck presented to him. Mouth caressing, licking, and kissing every inch of skin.

Coherent thought was overrated, Paige thought fleetingly before just enjoying the sensations Shino never failed to bring about in her.

Exploration was done at a leisurely pace.

A few times she tried to return the pleasurable sensations Shino was rousing in her, but a look from those endless black eyes and the pleading tone of voice when he said, "Let me," was all it took for a big lump to form in Paige's throat while she nodded her acquiescence.

Shino took her permission and turned his attention to the center of her sex. With fingers and tongue and a look of adoration while she looked back at him, he set an agonizingly slow pace.

Paige writhed under his ministrations. She could feel the slow build of orgasm, like a tsunami rolling in from a distance.

Fingers.

Tongue.

Pleasure.

Loving black eyes.

Oh it was always the emotions behind the eyes that undid her. Arching her back, nearly bowed in half, she screamed out in ecstasy.

Becoming limp as her orgasm subsided, Paige felt her husband kiss his way back up her body. With the same agonizing slowness, he explored ever inch of her mouth with his.

Finally pulling away so they both could breathe, he whispered, "Love you."

Paige could only manage a sharp intake of breath and a drawn out moan in reply as Shino slowly filled her with his length. Another orgasm could be felt, riding on the heels of the not-yet-finished first climax. This time Shino let her wrap her arms and legs around his body, locking them in their intimate embrace. "Love you too," she finally managed to gasp out.

"Let me move, let me show you?" Shino asked in a ragged breath. It was the pleading tone that caught her attention. Shino rarely used that tone of voice.

"You do. Every time you look at me with those eyes," Paige responded, a little alarmed at this new side of Shino, but he wasn't letting her think straight to talk.

As if to prove her correct, Shino ground against her while they were still joined.

She moaned in response, and loosened her grip. When he did that, she would do anything for him.

"I need to do more than look tonight," he confessed to her. Slowly he started his motion, pumping in and out of her. Instead this time, the pace had an almost incremental build up. Every stroke became a little faster, more intense, and more fervent.

They were desperately clinging to each other by the time they both reached their climax.

Shino fell bonelessly next to Paige, and brought her into a crushing embrace. He tried to bury himself in her short, messy, blonde hair. "There were a few times…," he trailed off, but tried again, "Things are different when you have someone to come home to."

Paige willed her sex-fogged mind into working again. Shino rarely expressed vulnerability to her. For him to say those things, must have cost him. Something really bad had to have happened on the mission. She rearranged herself so she was straddling him and looking down into his eyes. "I won't push for what happened," she said, holding his gaze. "But I will always be here for you to come home to." She lowered herself so they were nose to nose. "Always," Paige repeated. Then she followed her statements with a slow and sweet kiss, leisurely exploring his mouth with her tongue, in an almost imitation to what he had done to her earlier.

She took her time in reacquainting herself with her husband's body, and a small part of her understood Shino's unhurried pace before. When she had reached the obvious sign of his appreciation of her efforts, Paige took him into her mouth, and continued her exploration. Licking, swirling, bobbing slowly up in down while holding the rest of him in her hand.

His hands alternating between fisting the sheets and hovering to the side of her head. It looked like he was fighting against an urge to grab her head and increase the pace of things.

When it looked like he was about to lose his control, Paige stopped what she was doing, and gradually crawled back up her husband's body so she could stare down into his face. "Shino," she tried to get his attention. She positioned herself so her entrance hovered above the tip of him. "Shino," she called out again.

Black, lust filled eyes sluggishly opened to regard her behind hooded lids.

"If you ever died on me…" Paige lowered herself with deliberate slowness onto him, pausing to enjoy the sensation of being filled. "I'd follow you to the afterlife to bring you back and then beat you senseless for being stupid enough to get yourself killed," she emphasized her point by squeezing her inner muscles, making Shino groan. She then proceeded to set a pace that didn't quite build up to Shino's previous speed, but was filled with such desperation, that she let him hold onto her hips, steadying her motion. A slight shift in angle enabled Paige the extra push needed to plummet over the edge again. She could feel her husband reach his own orgasm soon after.

Paige fell into the arms of her husband with their bodies still connected. "Love you," she breathed. She was feeling tired again.

Shino carefully slid out of her and maneuvered them onto their sides. "Love you too," another kiss was placed on the top of her head. "Sleep, I'll be here when you wake up."

Giving a sleepy smile, she closed her eyes and nuzzled into the embrace. The last thing she remembered before falling into her first peaceful sleep in weeks, was a whispered, "Thank you," from Shino.

***

**Authoress Post-ramble: **Ok, so that took an ENTIRELY different spin on in than originally planned, but it still works. Those that say Shino is OOC, I say, "I know!" My argument from _Reading Totems_ still stands, he's older, and he's married…that's bound to change a guy. And I doubt coming home from an ANBU mission would make most people very cheerful! Anywho…this is the end for the interlude. Next up in this universe is the collaboration with CasaHouse where his character Drake and mine of Paige get to run around in the same story! Everyone interested should go bug the heck out of CasaHouse to finish up his fic so we can start that! In the mean time, I'm going to play with a side project of mine that's been inspired by reading some Ibiki fics. Something a little darker for those of you with the inclination to follow me down that road. Until next time!

-GrizzlyTeddyBear


End file.
